The markets are bursting with bright, beautiful salad ingredients—and after going through the responses from this week’s salad contest, we’re feeling more inspired than ever. Check out our commenters’ favorite summer salads for some great tips on how to create your own. From effortless versions plucked straight from the garden to elaborate creations that make use of the grill, you’ll find ideas for every palate.
Hearty Salads:Baby spinach with seared sirloin steak, and crumbled Gorgonzola, tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.
Shaved fennel with crispy prosciutto, raspberries, Greek extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, and fresh mint.
Octopus, shrimp, squid, and smoked salmon with avocado, fennel fronds, white wine, olive oil, crème fraîche, and

Buttressed with a moderate hardiness that helps them thrive during a large chunk of the year, good old reliable beets can get lost amidst the bushels of showy summer veggies at market. But take one bite of this tangy and sweet beet salad from Larry LaValley and you’ll wonder why you everforgot about them. The dish is a great side to eat right now, but its rich and nutty vinaigrette, made with sherry, raisins, and cumin, gives it staying power into fall and early winter. Get the recipe here.

Now that summer is officially upon us, we're weaning ourselves off of our local lunch spots and bringing in salads (lots and lots of salads) made from the abundance of greens in our CSA boxes. Got any fresh ideas? Tell us how you make your favorite summer salad in the comments section, Facebook, or Twitter (use hashtag #JBFsalad) by the end of the day on Tuesday, July 12. We'll pick a winner at random on Wednesday, July 13, and send the winner a three-piece Scoop Salad Set from JBF House Purveyor Lenox.*

*Official Rules: To enter, respond with your favorite summer salad ingredients in this blog's comments section, on Facebook, or on Twitter with the hashtag #JBFsalad by 11:59 P.M. on Tuesday, July 12, 2011. JBF staff will pick a

With the temperature and humidity steadily ascending outside, we're all about keeping the heat to a minimum while making dinner. This vibrant salad from chef Jehangir Mehta—enlivened with zippy pineapple and fresh herbs—only requires a brief moment of cooking on your stove top. It's a taste of the tropics that won't make your kitchen feel like them.
Get the recipe here.

Portioned heirloom vegetables sit on a sheet pan before being plated as simple summer salads with garnishes of herbs and goat's-milk curd. The dish appeared on a Beard House menu prepared by the Aussie celebrity chef Adrian Richardson.
Have a look at more photos here.

WHAT? In the weeds. The Forme of Cury, the earliest known English cookbook (published around 1390 by Richard II's cooks), asks for "purslarye" in a salad recipe; colonists brought the plant to America, where they used it as an herb and pickled it for a condiment; and a few sources say it was Ghandi's favorite vegetable. It's a main ingredient in fattoush, a Middle-Eastern bread salad, and Arabs once believed that if sprinkled around the bed, the small, oval-shaped leaves could chase away erotic dreams. (Why they'd want to, we don't know.) At some point in this country, purslane fell into disfavor. Waverly Root quotes a certain William Cobett on purslane in 1819: "a mischievous weed that Frenchmen and pigs eat when they can get nothing else." Happily, American chefs are rediscovering the herb's subtly tart pleasures.
WHERE? Tom Crenshaw's Beard House Dinner

The clock is ticking on this year's strawberry crop. If you're quick enough to snag one of the last pints, purée them for the dressing on this refreshing summer salad. The dressing is inspired by the revelatory pairing of strawberries and balsamic vinegar, and the dish was prepared by former Top Chef contestant Andrea Beaman at her seasonal cooking workshop.